Pope Reaffirms No Condom Stand After Spain Debacle
To any decent, compassionate person, HIV/AIDS is a healthcare crisis of epic proportions. The future of entire nations- Russia, Uganda, South Africa, to name a few- are threatened by this horrible pandemic. You’d think that every governmental, social, and religious body would be devoting every ounce of their being to HIV/AIDS prevention, using every means and tool at their disposal…right? After all, it IS a preventable disease- IF proper precautions are taken.
Nice try, because, if you’d been thinking that, you’d be horribly wrong. The Catholic Church of Pope John Paul, continuing in their “head in the sand” policy when if comes to doctrinal issues, is insisting on the supremacy of Church doctrine over protecting human life. Right; the primacy of life only holds true if abortion is the issue….
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul on Saturday stressed that the Roman Catholic Church believed abstinence and fidelity within marriage, and not condoms, were the best way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The Pope’s words, spoken to a new ambassador to the Vatican, took on an added significance being his first direct comment on the controversial topic since a Catholic official in Spain this week appeared to question the Church’s stand against condoms.
“The Holy See … believes prevention through education about the sacredness of life and the correct practice of sexuality, that is chastity and faithfulness, is necessary above all other things in order to prevent this disease responsibly,” the 84-year old Pontiff said in a written address.
The Church opposes condoms in all except the rarest of circumstances because they are a form of contraception.
It says promoting the use of condoms to fight the spread of AIDS fosters what it sees as immoral and hedonistic lifestyles and behavior that will only contribute to its spread.
So, we have a cadre of old, celibate men telling the world that using a barrier that could literally save their lives is immoral? Could the Holy See be any more arrogant, insensitive, and clueless? Yes, perhaps they have sworn off sex as part of the pursuit of their life’s work. This, of course, is in complete contravention of the reality that sex is a very basic human drive. To deny someone the right to use a condom in defense of a tired doctrine is indefensible and borders on criminal negligence.
The Catholic Church would rather deal with the aftermath of allowing people to become infected with HIV/AIDS than to risk compromising their precious doctrine. To issue pronouncements that effectively declare “Well, people just need to stop having sex unless they are married” only serves to demonstrates how truly clueless the Catholic Church’s leadership is.
This ignorant and willful disregard for the reality of HIV/AIDS and the simple prevention measures available goes far beyond normal DUMB@$$ material. Yes, Pope John Paul can and should be held complicit in the unnecessary infections and deaths of thousands of Catholics who look to him for leadership. His attitude can be held to be nothing less than a criminal disregard for the truth.
Clearly, Pope John Paul has no problem with thousands of needless deaths if it means maintaining the sanctity of Catholic doctrine. This from a man who is recognized and represents himself as God’s representative on Earth. It’s time for the Church to pull their collective anterior out of their collective posterior and recognize what is happening on their watch- or to be held responsible for their criminal arrogance, negligence, and disregard for the reality that is all around them.
